Together We Rise
by SherlockAvenger
Summary: The Company of Thorin Oakenshield is unexpectedly summoned to Panem,a nation ruled with an iron fist. Held captive by The Capitol,some of the dwarves are forced to participate in the Hunger Games. What will become of them?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

All thirteen dwarves were resting peacefully (save one, who was currently attempting to persuade the Company's burglar into staying with them), trying to catch a few winks of sleep before the inevitable long day of traveling that lay before them. Excluding the rather uncomfortable sand beneath them and the cold that permeated the air, they were all fairly comfortable in the little mountain cave they had found. It was, after all, better than having to trudge up the steep mountain path in the biting rain and wind, not to mention facing the Rock Giants that apparently inhabited these mountains. Before they could do more than nod off, however, the false sense of security they had built up for the time was violently jerked away from them.

A jagged fissure silently ran the length of the floor, and at first, none but the leader of the company saw it. "UP! EVERYONE WAKE UP!" Thorin Oakenshield bellowed. It served little purpose, as even with the warning they had not the time to prepare for what was to come. The crack in the floor opened up like a trap door on a theatrical stage, but the dwarves,instead of rising dramatically up to meet the audience, fell down, down, down; Deep into the mountain they tumbled, bumping into cold, hard stone and shouting all the way.

They fell for a time they could not measure. None knew how long it was, whether a few seconds or an hour, but at last they reached the bottom, and immediately each dwarf wished they were still in the air. The reason for this being that what met them at the bottom were the incredibly unpleasant goblins. These are a nasty race, vile and disgusting in all that they do.

They first slammed into a sort of wooden cage, fenced in all around except for at the front, where thousands of the terrible creatures began to pour in among them, searching, prodding, biting, and jerking. They were forced along the path, though they resisted with all their might, for who among them knew what sort of horrors lay at the end? Their struggles proved fruitless, however, as they were herded along despite their best efforts. There were simply too many monsters for them to fight alone, especially taken off guard as they were.

The creatures shoved them forward on the rickety wooden paths of Goblintown, and they tried their best to stay as far away from the edges as possible, for there were large drops on either side. Then, a most peculiar thing happened. As is by some powerful magic, all of the goblins within a ten foot radius were thrown back from them. When they tried to push forward again, they found themselves blocked out by a type of forcefield. Beat and pound on it though they might, they could not make any headway. The dwarves and lone hobbit, meanwhile, were trying to find a way out of this mess. They could see no reasonable exit(besides falling, and none of them fancied that very much),and besides, they seemed to be caged in by an invisible fence. Suddenly,they were all pulled by some magnetic force to the ground. It went slowly, for dwarves are strong and they resisted greatly, but eventually it had them to their knees, and then on the ground. It was as if something great and heavy were pressing down on their backs, forcing them down into the ground. Just when they thought they were to be crushed under this mysterious, invisible weight, the ground beneath them splintered and they spilled through.

With terror in their hearts, the company expected to fall to their deaths,but realized that they looked not down into a dark pit of gross creatures, but into a swirling void that seemed to go on forever, and not exist all at the same time. The depth they could not tell, and all they knew was that they were falling once again, having no means with which to stop or slow themselves. It looked almost like they might crash into some surface every once in a while, but they never did. They were pulled through nothingness, and then before they knew it, they had crashed through a barrier of sorts, or so it seemed, for after these bizarre happenings none in the company knew whether to trust their senses, or not.

Looking about themselves curiously, the company of dwarves(and Bilbo,for he had miraculously kept up with them amidst the crowd of enemies and great fall) stared in awe at their new surroundings. It was certainly unlike anything they had ever seen before.


	2. Chapter 1

Together We Rise,Chapter 1

_His entire body shook with a nervous anticipation. Or was it simply fear that should this not work, the President would end his life? Snow had spared his life last time for no other reason than necessity. Although the last thing he'd brought through had been incredibly useful, he could not fail in his assigned mission again. If he did, he knew that Snow's temper would not be so easily turned away. _

"This is it," He thought. "I'm right in my element. This is where I belong." District 3 had been large, as were several of the other Districts, but the Capitol certainly took the cake. The technological advances in this room alone were enough to make his head spin. Upon entering the Capitol, all he wished was to be given a lab and the time to take all of these enchanting inventions apart to discover how they worked. But, unfortunately, he had been given no such liberty.

He began to recall the incident of his arrival: _As soon as he had both feet on the ground outside the train, he was surrounded by Peacekeepers and whisked off to a small (you must understand, this is counted as small only by the Capitol's standards) house on the outskirts of town, where he was to spend the coming years in which he worked for President Snow. It was next to a cluster of skyscrapers. He was told later that the largest of these was the headquarters for the Department of Scientific Development. They had given him very little information about why he was here, merely that the President himself had brought him in for a highly classified project. Said project was so top secret, apparently, that not even he was allowed to know about it._

_He had patiently (or, perhaps, not so patiently) stayed in his bare little home, awaiting the instruction that he assumed was to come any day. In this he was disappointed, for the information was not brought to him. Rather, he found that he was to be brought to the information. He was collected one day by the standard men in uniform, and dropped off in one of the large buildings a few hundred yards from his house. He figured that the formal delivery was a little unnecessary (they could have simply directed him to the place instead of giving him an armed guard, after all), but, being a peaceable man, kept these observations to himself._

_They escorted him to a set of double doors, where stood yet another pair of Peacekeepers, on either side. The part of the building he had come to was fancier, even a bit extravagant, if he did say so himself. The doors themselves looked to have diamond knobs on them. He was puzzled by this, so in order to satisfy his curiosity, he stepped forward. With a slight push from the Peacekeepers, the doors swung inward. He strode into the room, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight before him. Or, if you prefer, the man before him. President Snow stood watching him with the beginnings of a smirk on his lips, seeing the man's look of simultaneous fear and wonder. "Ah, good evening, Dr. Ward. I have a job for you."_

Here he stood, one year later, in a room in one of the smaller buildings next to the HQ. It was a secret room, which only three people knew about. The President, of course, was one. Then there was the man who had built it, an unimportant construction worker whom no one had heard from since the completion of this project. Finally, there was James Ward. He had, at first, had no idea why he had been given such privileged information, but he had said nothing. No one questioned the motives of President Snow, unless they wanted to find themselves next on his hit-list. He had, however, soon discovered its purpose.

He stood in this room for some time, waiting for the moment when he would see the President walk through the doors, or, more precisely, the moment in which the timer for his life started ticking. He knew that, most likely, he would be killed after this project was over with. That would, ideally, not be for a very long time. Then there was another thing to think of: Would the experiment work? It was just a trial, after all. Oh, how he wished the man in charge had given him the time and means to test this. Perhaps then he would be able to work out any bugs or glitches the software might have. They had given a perfectly logical explanation as to why he could not do this, stating that the power required to perform this experiment even once would be enough to blackout the whole of The Capitol for a couple of weeks, at least. But still, a man could hope, could he not?

Ward was considering taking a seat in the rather uncomfortable-looking chair in the corner when suddenly the sliding panel in the wall opened wide and in stepped the most powerful man in Panem. He was, if Ward could be so bold to think, looking a little nervous as well. He knew how much the President was depending on this going exactly as planned. Should it fail, his anger would be taken out on the head of the project: his unfortunate self.

"Mr. President." He greeted in a light tone that was obviously forced, given the unusual high pitch of his voice. The president nodded to him, and then looked pointedly at the machine before him, obviously wanting to dispose of the usual pleasantries and get down to business. "Shall we begin?" Snow asked impatiently.

Ward inclined his head before turning and walking to the computer, and began typing away on the keyboard. A minute later, the mechanism sitting on the table next to it began to light up and give off strange whirring noises. So far, it was proceeding normally. Although, in a situation like this, normal was relative.

The machine in question was a perfectly round ring of titanium, smooth but for the lights implanted into the metal at regular intervals. The ring itself was thin, but sturdy, with room enough to fit a large man through. It was attached to a base which sat on the table and jutted outward, allowing the ring to hang parallel to the floor.

After a few minutes, he finished with the computer and flipped a switch on the base of the machine. With it fully powered up, the lights began circling 'round the machine at a startling speed. Eyes lighting up with excitement, Ward typed another code into the computer, and the next phase started: a glowing light encompassed the machine,and spread throughout the room. He was so happy he could have laughed. It was working! He could see it now: a happy life lived out in the Capitol, working directly under President Snow. Raises, promotions, new inventions… Yes, he could be quite happy here.

His dreams were shattered in an instant when out of nowhere, he heard sparking, grinding, and a loud crash. The room was so dark, you couldn't have seen your hand in front of your face. Gone were his ambitions. His goals were seeping out through the crack of the panel in the wall. What was he to do now? Perhaps he could make a break for it. Bust through the wall, and run. Run until he couldn't breathe. He would find somewhere, anywhere… anywhere he would be allowed to keep his life. But, he did none of these things. Both men were too shocked even to move. The only sound in the room was the heavy breathing coming from the men, both of whom were most upset at the turn of events.

Then, just as it was beginning to sink in just how bad things had gone, in the center of the circular machine, a brightness which couldn't be described lit up the entire room. Squinting at the sudden light, the men looked in wonder at what was unfolding before them. A scientific anomaly, it would be described as. They would only think of that later, though, as at the moment their minds were over-loaded, trying to understand the images and colors and concepts that their eyes were feeding them.

It only lasted a moment, and then it was gone, faded to grey. But it was enough. The overhead light was turned back on as the power of the machine spluttered and went out. A throng of dwarves stood in their company, blinking and staring uncomprehendingly at the sight around them. Oh, they wouldn't be expected to understand what was going on, of course. It would all be entirely new to them.

Snow grinned to himself. It had worked. It had really, actually worked. Part of him had known all along that it would. He did, after all, have one of the greatest minds in the country working on it. However, one couldn't help but doubt. He was only human, as he often had to remind himself. But now! It had all come out right. The first part of his plan was completed, and now to move on to the next stage. He had everything mapped out from here. Every course of action, every variable had been taken into account and planned for accordingly.

What luck he'd had, over his life! He almost didn't-no, _couldn't_- believe it. Everything had worked out his way since he was a very young man. He had this entire country under his thumb. He had eventually come to the conclusion that, since this world had fallen to him, it was time to move on to others. Of course, he would never have known about the other worlds had that one very _helpful, _weary traveller not accidentally ended up in Panem. Luck indeed. He almost believed there was some mysterious force working in his favor, some force that wanted him to rule. "_Yes,"_ He thought. "_My right to rule is…divine."_

Storing these thoughts away, for he had other matters to attend to at the moment. If he didn't take charge of the situation, they would soon have a group of very angry dwarves demanding answers on their hands, and they didn't want that. He needed to be in control. He stepped forward to address the company of dwarves. "Dwarves of Erebor!" He said loudly, for they had, in the minute or so before that, come to their senses and had become quite loud in talking to each other and trying to figure out what on earth was going on. At the sound of his voice, they turned as one and stared at him, frowning.

"I understand that you are confused," He continued, pretending that he was not getting some very ugly looks directed his way. "I can offer insight as to where you are, and what is and will be happening in the near future. We shan't discuss these matters here, however. A more suitable place has been prepared, so that you might be made more comfortable after your difficult journey. Now, if the leader of your company would step forward?" His voice remained strong throughout, for he had much practice in holding an audience's attention, and captivating them with his smooth words.

Though he had been merely listening up to this point, Thorin Oakenshield stepped forward. "Who are you? Where are we?" He demanded, not bothering to wait for the more 'suitable place' this man had evidently prepared. He wanted answers, not to mention he had no idea whether they were in any immediate danger or not, which put him on edge. Snow spoke again, trying to make his words and tone very persuasive. "If you would be so kind as to wait for further discussion until the proper time, then we can-"

"I will wait no longer," Thorin interjected. "Now: Where are we, and how did we get here?" He spoke with a tone of obvious authority. Dr. Ward began to take small steps backward, toward the exit. Two very powerful men fighting over authority? This could get ugly, and that was just the distraction he needed. He had been very glad, of course, that the experiment had worked. He'd had no clue if his calculations were even correct, seeing as how he had been pushed to the limit so as to get this working within an allotted amount of time. But, the joy had quickly faded from his heart when he realized just what this meant. Had this not been successful, he may have begged the President for another chance. After all, he'd simply been pushed too hard, and the entire thing was rushed. Why, if he'd had more time… But, unfortunately, that is not what happened, and with his mind cleared, he knew what was coming next.

His fate was tied in, in a way, with that of the unknown construction worker. The one who had built the very room they stood in. He had succeeded, and now he was left with no current objective, at least in the President's eyes, and he knew altogether _too much._ He would either have to be under constant supervision by President Snow's most trusted Peacekeeper, or he would be killed. It couldn't be risked that he might share something about this project, in which case everything they had worked for would be ruined. When it came down to it, he was sure that Snow wouldn't lobby for his life. He would give the order to have him killed, and that would be the end of it.

These thoughts rushed through his head as he listened vaguely to the argument between the two leaders. Then, just as he was moving to press the button to open the sliding wall panel, something one of the other dwarves said caught his attention. Caught it quite violently, I might add. "Hey, wait a minute! Where are you going?!" It was a simple inquiry, but it was enough to spoil his plan. At the dwarf's comment, both the President and the King turned their eyes to him. "Yes, indeed, Dr. Ward. Just _where_ do you think you're going?" The President's cold, dead tone cut through the air and his heart. "Ah, just- well,I- ah, nowhere, sir." He said rather awkwardly. He'd never been good at thinking under pressure, and this time was no different.

"Indeed." The President said shortly before turning his attention back to the King under the Mountain. "Now then, I suppose you are right, you should get the answers to your questions as soon as possible." Snow had a hard choice to make, and he wasn't sure he'd made the right one, which was rare for him. He always knew what to do, in any and every situation. But this time was different. He was quite used to being obeyed, so to have someone so blatantly question his authority, and demand that he do something (No one _demanded_ anything of President Snow, thank you very much), he was at a loss for words. This was one of the rare times in his life that he had found himself losing an argument, so he decided to acquiesce to the King's demands with what dignity he had left.

"To answer your inquiries: I am President Snow. You are in the Capitol city of a country called Panem. You needn't try to look as if you know where that is, for there is no possible way that you could. You are in a different world here, Thorin Oakenshield. And no, that is not a figure of speech."

**Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think of my story thus far.**


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